After spending the holidays on hold, the controversy about government wiretapping practices is about to pick up volume this month. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) expires on Feb. 1, and Congress needs to revamp it to limit the government’s warrantless surveillance powers.

That will require a compromise on retroactive legal immunity for telecommunications companies that have allowed the National Security Agency to tap lines without a warrant.

After Sept. 11, the Bush administration expanded warrantless surveillance. Citing wartime powers, the White House told the NSA to ignore the 30-year-old procedures for judicial review of covert intelligence gathering on U.S. soil. Some telecom companies gave the NSA broad access, while others followed the law and asked for a warrant.

A year ago, when the practice was exposed by the press, the Bush administration told the NSA to seek secret wiretap warrants. However, the NSA complained that the process was too slow. Congress amended the surveillance act last summer to give the NSA broader authority – for six months – to intercept communications without a warrant if one party to a conversation or e-mail is overseas.

Just before the Christmas recess, Congress deadlocked on a new bill and decided to try again in January. Telecom immunity was the deal breaker. Bush has vowed to veto any legislation that does not include retroactive legal immunity for the companies that allowed access without warrants.

Immunity from prosecution is one thing. But it’s important that Congress not block privacy lawsuits from proceeding. It’s legitimate to challenge the legality of past wiretaps. The legal process needs to play out.

Warrant procedures were established in the 1970s after it was discovered that wiretap powers were widely abused, sometimes for political purposes. That potential for abuse still exists, and Congress is Americans’ first line of defense against it.

In the “long war” against terrorism, intelligence is a powerful weapon. But as we defend ourselves from enemies, we shouldn’t sacrifice our freedoms to our fears.